2. Darth Vader – Chris Diggins
Why I Ranked the Character so High: When you first sit down to watch A New Hope, you’re immediately drawn in by that famous shot of an Imperial Star Destroyer bearing down on a small Rebel ship. The massive size difference conveys the scale of the conflict unfolding onscreen: an unstoppable Empire versus a hopelessly outclassed ragtag band of Rebels. And that nameless menace that is so fully expressed with that one shot is soon given a face: the dark mask of Darth Vader. Six feet tall, clad all in black, and strong enough to lift a man up by the neck, Vader makes it immediately clear who the villains are here. As the story goes on, he also comes to embody everything Obi-Wan means when he so ominously warns Luke of the dark side of the Force. He chokes people to death with only a thought, blocks blaster shots with his bare hand, and he’s got James Earl Jones’ smooth baritone to boot. As dangerous as he is intimidating, he’s the perfect villain to counterbalance our plucky heroes in the original trilogy.
But pure evil isn’t all we have of Vader. Though it may no longer be a particularly shocking twist, learning that he’s Luke’s father in Empire Strikes Back casts all his actions in a new light. His relentless pursuit of Luke throughout that movie, and his insistence on capturing him alive and turning him to the dark side, becomes less about power and pragmatism than about a father trying to reconnect with the son he thought he lost. And when we see him again in Return of the Jedi, he’s far more pensive than we’ve come to expect. As Luke senses, seeing his son has made him feel conflicted about what he’s done and what the Emperor wants him to do. But it takes Luke’s final rejection of the dark side, and his near death at the hands of the Emperor, for Vader to realize that the mistakes he’s rationalized as inevitable results of the power of the dark side have always been his own responsibility. And with that realization, he’s able to make one final act of atonement that saves his son (and the galaxy) from the clutches of the Emperor. It’s a simple arc, but a powerful one, and it ties the entire trilogy together. His fall from grace, only hinted at in the first three, may not have turned out to be everything it was cracked up to be, but that doesn’t diminish his fantastic turn in IV, V, and VI, or make him any less the best character in the series.
Favorite Line: “I find your lack of faith disturbing.”
Vader’s iconic moment, choking an Imperial officer who dared to mock his adherence to the Force. It’s the first time we see anyone use the Force, conveying not only Vader’s menace but also the power of this mysterious Force he and Obi-Wan have talked about. Coupled with a fantastic deadpan delivery by James Earl Jones, it’s easily one of Vader’s best lines.
Quintessential Saga Moment: Vader’s duel with Luke in Empire Strikes Back
Empire is Vader’s time to shine as the main villain, and he makes the most of it. He spends most of the movie commanding his forces and outsmarting the heroes, but at the end he has his moment to show how powerful he really is. Throughout their duel Vader is consistently overpowering Luke, hacking away with his lightsaber, throwing debris with the Force, and wearing away at him psychologically by talking about the seductive power of the dark side. And it all culminates in the dramatic reveal that he’s Luke’s father, perhaps the most famous moment in the entire series. It’s a fantastic scene, and the height of Darth Vader’s villainous power.
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